Mindfulness and PERMA Well-Being: Intervention Effects and Mechanism of Change

Abstract

Studies have shown that mindfulness-based interventions (MBI) can improve well-being. However, well-being is difficult to quantify. Guided by the multidimensional PERMA model (Positive Emotions, Engagement, Positive Relationships, Meaning, and Achievement), two randomized controlled trials were successively conducted to examine the effects of MBI on well-being. The Random-Intercept Cross-Lagged Panel Model was adopted to investigate its underlying mechanism. Our findings repeatedly showed that the intervention led to significant improvement in mindfulness, alleviation of emotional distress, and an increase in PERMA-Meaning, compared to the control group. Independent models indicated that baseline describing negatively predicted week 3 meaning; week 3 meaning positively predicted week 6 non-reactivity to inner experience. These findings suggest that the mindfulness intervention for participants with emotional distress improved well-being based on the PERMA perspective and that describing and meaning could be potential mechanism variables. Further work is warranted to explore the therapeutic mechanism of mindfulness in fostering well-being.